The Lake Orion Police Dept. has created a new program to help gun owners secure their firearms when they are away – by turning those firearms over to the police. Temporarily.

“We want our residents and business owners to know that if they’re going on vacation or going to be away from home for an extended period of time, they can bring us their firearms and we will secure them for them,” said LOPD Chief Jerry Narsh.

Under the GunSafe program, a gunowner can check their firearm into the LOPD for safe storage, fill out a one-time agreement form that details the program, and sign it. The LOPD will then store the owner’s firearms in a secure location at the police department until the gun owner decides to retrieve it.

“We want them to have a level of trust, too, so that they can see how the program works,” Narsh said. “In no way, shape or form are we trying to create another registry. It’s a safety program. There is no registering of firearms.”

The program is open to Lake Orion residents and those who own a business in the village, regardless of where they live.

“I call it Advantage Village: we’re proud to serve the village,” Narsh said. “There are no limits to the amount of firearms they may store and they may retrieve them and bring them back as often as you would like. No fuss.”

The goal of the program is to keep firearms secure and out the hands of criminals.

“We support our residents’ right to keep and bear arms, and we also know not everyone has a secure gun safe. Firearms are one of the most coveted theft items in any home invasion,” Narsh said. “100 percent of stolen firearms are a security risk to us all. 100 percent of firearms stored with LOPD GunSafe … are safe and secure, even if you experience a home break in while away.”

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that about 1.4 million firearms were stolen during household burglaries over the six-year period from 2005-2010.

“The primary targets for thieves during a home invasion are your money, guns, jewelry and narcotic medicines. The LOPD encourages our homeowners to find a secure means of locking up the cash, jewelry and prescription medicines when they plan to be away from home. We will help you secure your firearms. We want to close that circle so they have a piece of mind when they leave,” Narsh said. “And so law enforcement doesn’t have to face any of those firearms on the streets.”

The LOPD has already been contacted by another Oakland County police department looking into the program. “Hopefully, more departments will do it,” Narsh said.

The LOPD also publicized GunSafe on its Facebook page, with several people providing feedback, mostly supportive of the program: